Blood Elementals
by TheDarknessofInsanity
Summary: A story I'm doing for my homework. I would have probably written it anyway though. There's a new kind of assassin. They call themselves the Blood Elementals and up until now they have worked in secrecy, but a slip-up from the newest member takes the notice of the Sanctuary. Can they convince her to stop killing, and abandon her family's murderous ways? PLZ R&R or else it's boring.
1. New Recruits

_ "What does this have to do with anything?"_

_"Training."_

_"Training... for what?"_

_"Anything. Everything. Nothing."_

_"That made absolutely no sense. Whatsoever. At all."_

_"You mock me."_

_"Yes, because it's so easy! You are... mock-able."_

_"... Begin."_

Snap_. His arm broke. He healed and turned as she gestured to the air, jumped over him and flipped, gesturing towards him now. He jerked back, slamming into the stone wall of the basement, smiling. His student was a success. Now for the hard part. He raised his hands and created a field of energy. A wave flowed forward, causing the student to kneel under the impact. She fought to raise her hands again, and as she did, the teacher braced himself for the next part of their routine, which was-_

Snap_._ Snap_. His arms flew to his sides, pinned down by magic, his legs went rigid and he toppled to the floor as his legs started twisting around each other as if they were boneless, save for the hollow popping sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh, as jagged bone tore through muscle and skin, spattering crimson blood over the walls. It shone as it dripped down onto the form of the girl's teacher. He looked up weakly as she stepped over him, hands splayed. Instantly his ribcage splintered and punctured his lungs and heart, stopping them. He let out a shuddering gasp and did not move again._

_The student, having finished her training, walked to the sink installed in the far corner of the room and cleaned it of the droplets of red that had managed to make it this far, then washed her bloody hands. At the sound of her mentor's body moving behind her, she turned and looked him in the face._

_"Took your time. That was what, thirty seconds? You're getting slow, old man." He did not respond, but instead rolled over onto his back and sat up, his skin and body healing swiftly._

_"When you've gone through this as many times as I have, then we'll talk."_

_"I don't plan on adding that to my bucket list anytime soon. So anyway, how's that?"_

_"Very good."_

_"I know, right? So anyway, how far along am I? When will I be able to go out and actually _do my job_?"_

_"I think..."_

_"Yeees?"_

_"I think... you're ready."_

_His student whooped with delight, punching the air as she did a little dance in a circle right there. He smiled despite himself. She was clearly excited to finally go out and carry on what he had started, but maybe too excited. She was only fifteen, after all, and this job was a dangerous one. She could get killed, or worse, imprisoned by the Sanctuary and forced to tell them of their family's secrets. She'd only been out once, when she was very young, and that was accidental. But now was the time to see what she remembered of his teachings._

_She hugged him swiftly and bolted out of the room, bouncing up the stairs as if she was weightless, and charging to her room to get changed out of her training clothes. In no time at all, she was poking her head through the door and saying, "I'm going now, who's to be first?"_

_He shook his head and chuckled grimly. Next he pulled a picture from the box under the sink and showed it to her. She snatched it, studying, memorizing the face, stuffing it into the pocket of her boot-legged jeans, hugging him again and darting off, throwing open the door to the deserted street, sunlight pouring in. She blinked her eyes like a newborn kitten, adjusting, then walked off happily._

_He sighed at her eagerness. She had no idea of the horrors of the outside world, but she would soon adjust, making her own way. No matter what it meant. He looked after her disappearing form._

_So young, for an assassin._


	2. Another new car?

"Oh, for God's sake..."

"It is quite a sight."

"But it's bright _blue_."

"It's still a sight. I never specified that it's such a _pleasant_ sight."

Valkyrie had to agree. The new car was bright, shiny blue. On almost anything else it might have been a pretty color, except maybe on a bigger car. Skulduggery strode towards his latest acquisition with absolutely no expression on his fake face. They'd had to buy a new car after he decided the others were too colorful to remain unnoticed, and Valkyrie had tagged along to try to persuade him not to buy such an outlandish car, but her efforts had only stopped him from buying a bright, flaming red, but only because she pointed out that it wouldn't have been very inconspicuous anyway.

Skulduggery handed over a fistful of money, talking to the guy who sold them the car, and returned. Valkyrie glanced at the car, then looked at Skulduggery skeptically. He shrugged, offering no further response. They walked to the car and got in. Valkyrie adjusted her seat. Skulduggery turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. He spread his hands, gesturing around the car.

"Tada!"

Valkyrie looked up from her seat. "I'd complain, but I've learned that it's useless to complain to you."

"At least that's _something_."

"Where to next?"

"The Sanctuary. Ghastly says it's important."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. "It's _always _important. If they ran out of _tea _it'd be important."

"I could just leave you at home and do this by myself."

"And let you have all the fun? Never."

"Then off we go."


	3. Meet your fifteen-year-old doom

Ariana Chance sat atop a roof in the town, ignoring the crying three-year-old tugging on his mothers' arm and begging her to look at the 'scary girl on the roof'. She entertained herself by making scary faces at the kid and raising her hands with her fingers bent into claws, causing more screaming and eventually his mother gathered him up and left, walking fast so as to avoid the annoyed glares of shoppers. Ariana laughed and rocked back and forth on her bent legs, keeping time to a steady beat from one of the music shops somewhere around town. As the wind picked up she hummed quietly, the soft sound of her voice being carried away by the breeze. She stopped moving and lay on her back on the warm, sunny roof, feeling the soothing heat on her back, and she pulled the picture from her pocket and studied it. The guy in the picture had a bald head, green eyes and a small, ridiculous mustache. He was quite fat. Apparently, he was also mortal, meaning he would be near-defenseless against her. Too easy. Beginner's work for a beginner girl. So she stood up, paced around to get her legs loosened up and jumped to the side of the building, using the air to propel her over the side then to cushion the fall. Apparently her victim was living in a motel across the town from her, so she headed across the bustling streets in the sunshine Such a nice day to die, she thought. Lucky him.

She crossed quickly, speeding up as she went, not really paying attention to where she was going until she crashed into someone. She looked up.

It was the guy she was supposed to kill.

He looked down at her kindly, offering his hand and she grasped it, being pulled up by a strong arm. She blushed furiously as she looked at the ground. She was screwing everything up!

"S-sorry," she mumbled to her feet.

"That's fine. Young people have to mess up sometimes, or they'll never learn anything," chuckled the man. He was nice. Ariana almost felt bad that this was his last day.

"Well, bye. Try to watch out for other people next time," he called over his shoulder as he walked away. Ariana let him walk for a bit, then started to follow him. She didn't _actually _know where he lived.


	4. Ariana's anger

A while later, after many trips to various shops, the man finally returned to a particularly shabby-looking motel and entered, talking to the woman at the desk, who was busy filing her nails, her feet on the desk. She looked up at the man and plastered an extremely false smile on her face, handing over a set of keys with a green tag on them. It said '34'. It was a room number. The man left and walked up the crumbling stairs, waving behind him. The woman shrugged and went back to her nails. Ariana decided to be friendly as she walked in. She would only kill the lady a little bit.

The rest of the dying bit would totally not be her fault.

"Hey," Ariana said casually as she strolled in through the glass doors. The woman glanced up as Ariana wandered over. Her name tag said 'Amanda'.

"Um, who was that guy who was just here?" Ariana asked. Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"Why? Ya know him?"

"If I knew him, then I wouldn't be asking who he was, now would I?"

"I dunno, maybe. It's not my job to be smart about people who come in. I'm just the one who hands out the keys."

"Can you at least answer one question?"

"... What?"

"Does anyone live with him?"

"Uh, one girl lives with him, his little sister he said. Lexi, I think her name is. Weird kid. His name is Jacob."

"Okie doke. Can I go see him?"

"Not unless you have a key," said Amanda suddenly, sitting up straight and looking Ariana in the eye. _So she picks now to be serious? Yeah, that doesn't work_, thought Ariana.

"I don't have a key. Give me one, then." Ariana said tonelessly, stepping forward, hand out. Amanda shook her head.

"Sorry, no pay, no reservations, no key."

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Explain then-"

"I _can't _explain-"

"Just tell me-"

"You wouldn't get it-"

"What wouldn't I-"

"_Just shut up and let me through, you stupid idiot!_" snarled Ariana, her eyes flashing. Her fist crashed onto the desk, sending pens, paper and a nail file flying. Amanda backed up, but she couldn't go far because of the wall.

"I-I can't... I'll be fired..."

Ariana clicked her fingers, summoning a tiny flame in her hand.

"If I were you, my _job_ would be the last thing I'd be worrying about. I reckon that, oh, maybe _living _would be a top priority." Amanda shrank down so that Ariana couldn't see her behind the desk. She in turn held her hand against the desk so the tiny flickering of the fire started eating at the wood of the polished furniture. A faint whirring sound behind her alerted her to the presence of a security camera and she turned to see the small round device trained on her. She moved to cover the small fire and gestured to the camera, which rattled and exploded, leaving a torn bundle of sparking wires poking through the wall. She was desperately hoping no-one saw that. The desk was literally crumbling in the fire, ash from papers, melted plastic from pens and burnt pencils covering the top and spilling onto the shivering form of Amanda, who looked up into the angry face of the Elemental standing over her.

"F-freak..." she whispered.


	5. Ariana vs Lexi

A cold smile swept across Ariana's face.

"Stand up, Amanda." she commanded. Amanda shook her head. Ariana raised her hand and Amanda's legs straightened, causing her to jump a little with momentum. Her arms were stuck to her sides. Her mouth, however, hung open in shock. Ariana grinned, satisfied. However her face fell considerably when she looked over to the steps to see the fat man, Jacob, and a young woman she guessed was Lexi standing on the top of the stairs, along with an older couple and one teenage boy standing behind them, staring at the scene before them. Lexi, to Ariana's great surprise, gestured and suddenly Ariana flew back, slamming into the door, which cracked, making a noise like a gunshot. Lexi then gestured to the area just above the desk, and the moisture in the air began to collect and form a mist until eventually it was so thick that droplets fell until the fire on the desk had been completely put out. Ariana tried to get back up, but as kept down by a bubble of air that was being held over her. As she struggled to raise her hands, she remembered something her father had taught her when she was very young. She didn't have a designated type of magic until she was older, and as he had suspected something like this would happen, she had a black cord mood necklace with a small metal charm shaped like a spider, which she had never understood, because the mood part was always swirling blackness, like pure shadows.

Shadows.

It made sense now.

Suddenly a wave of darkness burst from the tiny spider, filling the bubble and piercing it, the sharp points of thousands of needle-like shadows finding weak spots and exposing them until it looked like the head of a black mace was in the center of the room. Lexi gasped. Ariana laughed weakly. She was being crushed, but as long as she escaped, she didn't care if she came out with no legs. She forced the shadows outwards, making the spikes grow until the bubble wasn't there anymore and she was free to do _this-_

Shadows sneaked around to the sides of the desk, picking it up and throwing it at the small crowd. It sailed cleanly over Lexi, who had stepped forward in an effort to keep the bubble intact, and landed in front of the crowd. She did the same for a small couch that was sitting in the corner, missing out on all the fun. She then set the whole thing alight with a fireball. Muffled screaming from the other side told her that they weren't about to push over the flaming pile of furniture blocking them from the exit, and there were no more fortunate sorcerers over there either. Then there was the dry crackling that told her the cheap wallpaper had caught the flame.

"What are you _doing_, you idiot? Do you know _nothing _of the magical laws?" shrieked Lexi in a high-pitched voice. Ariana shrugged.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not one for laws." said Ariana as she sent another fireball flying toward her opponent, who deflected it with a wall of air. As it exploded, Ariana was already preparing for a special attack. Lexi, busy readying an air attack, _probably another bubble, _thought Ariana, suddenly shot to the wall with a loud _thud_ as the plaster in the old wall cracked and bent. She stood up, looking panicked as she lost control of her own movements. Ariana held out a hand mockingly.

"Come," she giggled, "Dance with me."

Lexi walked over jerkily, looking at her legs and arms. Ariana smiled bitterly. Didn't these people read?

"What- how are you-" stammered Lexi. Ariana sighed.

"You ever read old magical legends, maybe?"

"Yes, I-I loved the old tales when I was- when I was younger..." Lexi looked up, alarmed, piecing it together.

"You... you're a Blood Elemental, aren't you? But... they've been dead for years... since the war! You're not possible! There has been no-one to teach the old traditions! I-it requires someone with the specific knowledge and training to be able to pass on the ability."

Ariana tilted her head, whistling. "Well now, someone's been studying their magical history. But that's just it, isn't it? Books don't cover everything now, do they? Certainly, most- key word here, _most_- of us were in fact killed or imprisoned during or immediately after the great war with Mevolent, but one or two of us obviously lived and taught the ways to their children, who passed it to theirs, and so on and so on. So there's a dandy little piece of history right there."

"But wouldn't the Sanctuary have discovered them- I mean, you, years ago? They've been searching for ages, it's illegal, it's worse than using someone's true name!"

"How so? I always thought they were on the same level. Enlighten me."

"Well... if you use a True Name... then you know you have no control over your movements... using their own blood and body against them, though? It's hard to break through magic, but for those who can... they'd _die_!" Ariana yawned, bored. Lexi looked at her, annoyed.

"If I'm boring you, you could always just go to the Sanctuary now and save me the trouble of dragging you there myself."

"You know," said Ariana, stepping out of the partially-broken doors, "I might just do that."

Lexi looked at her skeptically. "Really?"

"Nope," said Ariana cheerfully, waving, "bye!" Before Lexi could stop her, Ariana had jumped, using the air to push herself. She caught the gutter and pulled herself onto the roof. Lexi sighed and turned to the blocked, still flaming stairway, only to whirl around at the sound of Ariana's voice. She was hanging from a bar on the roof, her knees bent too grip the metal.

"Before I _actually _go, I might as well do what I came here to do." she said, before gesturing to the pile of furniture behind Lexi. A thud. A scream, joined by others, like they were witnessing the worst murder in history. Lexi paled. The voice had come from Jacob. She was spinning around as Ariana swung herself back onto the roof.

Lexi doused the fire in moisture pulled from the air, and kicked and pulled until the furniture collapsed, disintegrating slightly before dying completely. Lexi threw water at the still crackling wallpaper, almost tripping over something at her feet. She looked down and almost threw up, because what she had stumbled on was...

...the burned, dead body of her older brother, laying on the floor, still curled in pain with his mouth open in a silent, permanent scream of pain.


End file.
